Epigonus lenimen (Whitley, 1935)

(English name: Bigeye Deepsea Cardinalfish) (Figs. 3, 12; Tables 1, 2)

Scepterias lenimen Whitley, 1935: 230 (in part, original description; type locality: Great Australian Bight; holotype: AMS E.3368); Whitley, 1940: 420, fig. 33 (list and figure, Australia); Whitley, 1968: 56 (in part, list, New Zealand).

Epigonus lenimen Scott, 1962: 191, fig. 1 (Australia); Mayer, 1974: 193, fig. 22 (description, Australia and New Zealand); Parin & Abramov, 1986b: 187 (description, New Zealand); Mochizuki, 1990: 259 (description, New Zealand); Allen & Cross, 1989: 553 (list, Australia); Paulin et al., 1989: 180 (key, New Zealand); Abramov, 1992: 100 (key); Gomon et al., 1994: 563 (brief description and photograph, Australia); Hutchins, 2001: 32 (list, Western Australia); Hoese et al., 2006: 1114 (list, Australia); Okamoto & Fukui, 2011: 391 (key); Okamoto, 2012: 252 (key); Stewart & Gon, 2015: 1222 (key and description, New Zealand).

Material examined. MNHN 1989-1121, 2 specimens, 107.7–108.6 mm SL, 38°48.0 S, 77°34.1 E, off Saint-Paul, South Indian Ocean, 350–412 m depth, 18 July 1986; SAIAB 82133, 105.0 mm SL, 21°36.1 S, 35°42.1 E, off Mozambique, 599–601 m, 17 October 2007 .

Diagnosis. Dorsal-fin rays VII-I, 9; pectoral-fin rays 16–18; total gill rakers 28–33; vertebrae 11 + 14; pyloric caeca 6–9; pored lateral-line scales 46–49 + 3–5; scales below lateral line 9–10; pungent opercular spine present; blunt maxillary mustache-like processes present; ribs on last abdominal vertebra present; tongue toothless; no tubercle or two nub-like structures on symphysis of lower jaw; body depth 23.8–28.1% SL; orbital diameter 14.1– 17.7 % SL; lower-jaw length 14.9–16.4% SL.

Measurements (% SL); counts are given in Table 1. Head length 34.6–36.0; head width 16.9–18.6; head height 16.9–18.2; body depth 23.8–24.3; body width 14.2–15.2; caudal-peduncle depth 9.4–10.3; caudal-peduncle length 25.8–28.1; orbital diameter 15.7–16.4; interorbital width 9.7–9.8; postorbital length 10.2–13.3; upper-jaw length 15.2–15.4; lower-jaw length 15.7–16.2; snout length 7.2–8.3; pre-first dorsal-fin length 36.9–38.9; presecond dorsal-fin length 57.8–58.8; pre-pectoral-fin length 34.1–34.5; pre-pelvic-fin length 38.8–39.0; pre-anus length 59.1–59.6; pre-anal-fin length 66.3–66.8; first spine length on first dorsal fin 3.1; second spine length on first dorsal fin 16.1–17.4; third spine length on first dorsal fin 16.6–18.1; second dorsal-fin spine length 16.7–17.7; first anal-fin spine length 4.4–5.0; second anal-fin spine length 19.3–19.7; pelvic-fin spine length 17.6–17.7; first dorsal-fin base length 11.9–13.5; second dorsal-fin base length 10.5–11.8; anal-fin base length 9.8–12.1; pectoralfin length 20.5–20.9; pelvic-fin length 20.7–22.2.

Distribution. Western South Indian Ocean (Parin & Abramov 1986b; Abramov 1992); New Zealand (Mayer 1974; Paulin et al. 1989; Mochizuki 1990; Stewart & Gon 2015); southern Australia (Mayer 1974; Hutchins 2001; Hoese et al. 2006), at 300–1050 m depth.

Comparisons and Remarks. Epigonus lenimen belongs to the E. constanciae group by having a pungent opercular spine (Okamoto 2012). This species is similar to E. robustus in having 11 + 14 vertebrae; however, it differs from E. robustus in orbital diameter longer than postorbital length (Fig. 12) (vs. orbital diameter shorter than postorbital length in E. robustus) and in lacking two nub-like structures on the symphysis of lower jaw (vs. present in E. robustus). The other 5 species of the group in the Western Indian Ocean, E. bispinosus, E. idai, E. marimonticolus, E. pectinifer and E. waltersensis, have 10 + 15 vertebrae (vs. 11 + 14 in E. lenimen).

Epigonus lenimen is originally described based on holotype and nine paratypes from Australia (Whitley 1935).

According to a re-examination of Whitley’s type series by Mayer (1974), the paratypes were identified as E. denticulatus in his revision of the genus.